In 2003, journalist Mary Roach investigated the killer with a book about an unexpected subject: the use for human corpses. Beyond a simple burial and without a “CSI” slant, Suff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers explored more secrets after death. At least one will reconsider his plans for this life. (If I can’t test my body in defenses, I can’t make an organ donor.
Late last year, Roach’s highly anticipated second book, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, was published. Spook includes another question related to “what happens after we die”. Do we have a soul? Religious faith may be an easy answer to the question for many, but Mary Roach is behind what the scientific community has done to prove the existence of the soul.
In India he begins to inquire how the reincarnation cases are confirmed. Throughout the book, Roach wants to believe there is a soul, but he approaches his material with a healthy dose of skepticism. He asked the obvious questions, which are sometimes overlooked by those who have difficulties and by those who only want to argue. In reincarnation stories, Roach looks at culture as anecdotes before making any assumptions.
After present day India Spook takes up the historical investigation of the soul initiated by Duncan Macdougall in 1901 to weigh various forms of mediation. Indeed, a good portion of this book is devoted to magicians, and attempts to prove and debunk them. For the surface story of the thing, Spook is a good reference. Roach herself follows a “fundamental mediation” seminar. It’s her hands-on approach to the subject of both Suff and Spook that puts Mary Roach a cut above many non-fiction writers. His humor shines through when the topics become incongruous and outlandish, and his note reads like inside jokes that can be referenced later in the text. Roach is not afraid to play and learn.
My only objection, and it ends in a pet peeve, is the billing of “science” in the most subtle part of the book. There is very little information about what Roach’s functions are in any scientific sense. He acknowledges this belief indirectly. There weren’t many science experiments. It is possible that, if the soul exists, it will be long before the time when scientific tools can gather any applicable information. The absence of knowledge in the book is strongly felt, and a definitive statement about that absence would have been more welcome.
With the prospect of faith, Roach slides easily around the exit. Of course, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife offers no absolute answers. But the Blessed Mary Roach will depart in him. His purpose was not to write a book or to prove or disprove the soul, but to explore in what ways they were used. the investigation so far. She hits the spot in spades with style and humor. And it leaves the reader wondering just where Mary Roach is going next.
